Chapter
1 – Endless Downpour
On a normal rainy day, it rained
all over the world. Not only that, but it didn’t stop raining and both the sun
and the moon were gone from sight. No satellite from any country could find
either the sun or the moon nor did any of them catch watch happened. They both suddenly
just disappeared. The rain, on the other hand, was here to stay. It rained and
rained for days with no real solution to fix any of the mysterious problems
that suddenly occurred until most of civilization was drowned by water with the
only real places to live being the tall buildings in the city, however,
humanity’s problems didn’t stop there.
A new mysterious species of black birds
with different kinds among them started hunting down the remnants of humanity. In
the midst of all this, a young girl named Luna is trying to survive by herself.
She woke up in an empty house by herself with her pupils changed to the shape
of a crescent moon. When she was dreaming, a strange voice told her that she
can stop the downpour when the sun and the moon are together again. She’s yet
to make sense of the dream but hopes to find the answer to it. No one has
offered her any help in finding the answer nor has anyone given her any help
when she asked. Almost everyone is out for themselves and theirs and those who
want to help her lack the resources to give her. As a result, she’s been barely
getting by. The rain has soaked her through and through and is getting sick as
a result.
She’s entering an old storage room
in an office building where there could be food. There are signs of a struggle
here with claw marks from the birds along with torn pieces of clothes and stains
that appear to be dried blood. Quietly moving through the battle-ridden office
space, she manages to find some dropped food that thankfully hasn’t expired yet.
Since she’s hungry, she eats whatever she can find as she continues on. Random
noises here and there of the building falling apart startles her, but apart from
the falling rubble, there doesn’t appear to be anything in dangerous in the
building. Following the trail of food leads Luna to a room still full of it and
a backpack with food stuffed in. She then eats whatever she can while picking
and choosing what she wants to her heart's content.
The roof caves in outside of the
food storage room and scares Luna. She looks outside the room to see it before
packing up what she has and leaves the room. Two birds then fly into the
building and start making noises. When Luna sees them, she’s frightened as she
doesn’t have that much experience in dealing with them, so she quickly exits
the room as fast and as quietly as she can. Though the birds are unaware of her
movements, they hear noises within the building that catch their attention.
They follow behind the noises Luna makes until they’re both in a destroyed
office room. One takes one exit of the room while the other takes the other
side. The only other exits out of the room are the windows, a hole in the wall
that leads to the same plunge down as the window, and another door, which is
blocked by rubble.
Thinking on her feet, she sacrifices
a piece of food and throws it to the other side of the room. Once the piece of food
hits the floor, a small mouse smells the food and runs to it. Luna tries to catch
it, but it’s too fast for her. The birds have eaten the food Luna has thrown
and now set their sights on the mouse. Since it’s out of reach, Luna covers her
ears in shame and tries not to cry over being unable to save it while getting
to the next room.
Luna is in the clear now and gets
some distance before eating. Rodents that managed to sniff out her food come to
her to eat. Since she feels bad for them, she gives them their own portion.
These rodents are the ones that typically come to her for food and a somewhat
safe and warm place to sleep. After having their fill, they snuggle up to Luna
and fall asleep. This makes Luna smile for a bit before closing her eyes. Suddenly,
some of the rodents wake up. Sensing danger, they sprint out of Luna’s temporary hiding
spot. Luna runs after them before they are caught and eaten by passing black birds
who happened to catch the smell of the rodents and Luna’s food.
With Luna in their sights, the
birds begin to chase after her. She runs through the ruined buildings to try to
lose them, but she is unable to. One of the birds manages to flank Luna by
going through the walls, hits her, and makes her fall down a nearby hole. She
falls through some wooden planks and into a group of people. Knowing that the
birds must be behind her, the people take whatever they can and run away
without even thinking about helping Luna. She struggles to her feet then tries
to continue running before being pinned down by the birds. They’re about to eat
her, but a masked man in a burning cloak shoots an arrow at one while
approaching them from a distance. The other bird lets go of Luna to head for
the immediate threat.
The masked man uses his cloak as a
defense shield that burns the bird when it touches it. He then wraps the cloak
around the bird until it dies. Luna finally manages to stand up. The two look
at each other before the masked man walks off.
“Wait!” Luna says before he leaves,
“Thank you for rescuing me!”
“Don’t mention it. Be more careful
next time.”
The masked man continues walking.
“H-hey. Don’t you think it’s
dangerous to go out alone?”
“I’ve been alone for a while now. I
can survive by myself and you should too.”
“Why’s that?”
“Why? Because other people are just
going to slow you down or abandon you. You must’ve seen the people down here
just leave you to the birds.”
“So? That doesn’t mean I’m like
that.”
“I know you aren’t. I saw you with
those rodents and how you fed them.”
“Then you can trust me. If I’ll
give food to rodents, then I’d definitely give food to you.”
“Save it for yourself you’ll need
it as things get worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“Did you just wake up? The world is coming to an end and the birds are here to
finish us off. That is if we don’t finish off ourselves.”
“I’m sure things can change if we
try.”
“Haha. Change? How can things
possibly change? We’re stranded in this city among the buildings unless you suggest
that we become fish.”
“No, not that. I know of a way to
change things.”
“Heh,
Do
you think change is possible?
That
the worst is over?
That
the best is yet to come?
All
is ruin
All
is decayed
All
is destroyed
I
want to trust someone as much as you do
But
I cannot go with you
I
cannot help you
Hope
is extinguished
Love
is unheard of
Death
is imminent
Leave
me and save yourself”
“If
there is no hope, then why keep fighting?
If
the world is desolate, then why keep living?
If
love is gone, then why keep existing?
I
can see that you're struggling
I
know you want to hope
I
know you want to love
A
light still shines out there
Hope
still exists
And
love still burns within us
Hope
can be found in the struggle
Love
is everlasting
So
hold onto life
And
let's face it together because we can't survive alone”
“You're
such a fool
I
don't need you
This
truth is sad but true
Where
can we go?
How
can we survive?
Who
can help us?
I
want to trust someone as much as you do
But
I cannot go with you
I
cannot help you
Hope
is extinguished
Love
is unheard of
Death
is imminent
Leave
me and save yourself”
“Let
go of your fears and worries
We
can make it together”
“Let
go of your dreams and delusions
You're
better off on your own”
“Stop
being so cynical
We
have a chance if we only make it”
“Stop
being so irrational
We
can only pull each other down”
“I
want to trust someone as much as you do
But
I cannot go with you
I
cannot help you
Hope
is extinguished
Love
is unheard of
Death
is imminent
Leave
me and save yourself”
“A
light still shines out there
Hope
still exists
And
love still burns within us
Hope
can be found in the struggle
Love
is everlasting
So
hold onto life
And
let's face it together because we can't survive alone”
“Okay, fine! Since you’re so
persistent, I’ll hear you out.”
“Thank you! Now, I had this dream
where someone told me the downpour will stop when the sun and the moon are
together.”
“…I reverse my decision. You’re on
your own.”
“Just hold on a second! I think we
can find the answer together. I mean I have the crescent moon in my eyes and you’re-”
“Burning like the sun, I know. I
had a similar dream to yours, but I don’t know what we should do.”
“We can find out. Maybe we can ask
someone who might be able to help us.”
“I only know of one other group of
people that could possibly help us.”
“Then let’s start there. My name is
Luna. What’s yours?”
“Solare.”
“It’s nice to meet you. Oh…wow.”
When Luna gets close to Solare to
shake his hand, she feels the warmth he gives off. The cold and moisture that’s
been stuck in her skin are suddenly gone.
“You don’t want to be shaking my hand.
It’ll burn you.”
“Let me try anyway.”
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
Solare takes the hand of Luna and
feels cooled down while Luna feels even warmer, but not hurt by the heat in his
hand.
“Huh? What’s going on? Everything
else that I’ve touched has been burnt.”
“You see? There is something
special about us.”
“We’ll just have to see if this turns
into something meaningful-I mean in relation to fixing the world, of course.”
Luna giggles a bit while Solare
tries to hide his embarrassment at his choice of words.
“Uh, let’s go before any more birds
show up.”
“Right.”
Luna and Solare head off to find
help, answers, or a reason to live, at the very least.
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